Analysis of the situation of women and children in Niger | Analyse de la situation des femmes et des enfants au Niger

The Analysis of the situation of children and women in Niger explores the advances of children and women’s rights, the areas where rights are not respected and the risks attached to the situation.

Among the main challenges identified, the study identified maternal mortality, the nutritional situation of children, the persistence of violence against women and children and the low quality of education.

This situation is due to many factors: information is difficult to access and of poor quality, knowledge of the rights of women and children is low, tradition and the role affected to women bear their weight on women, services are sometime inefficient and the violation of rights is not always punished, resources are limited due to widespread poverty. Moreover three different sources of law are used- customary, religious and civil law - with a predominance of customary law, which often goes against the rights of children of women, in particular in terms of inheritance and marriage.

According to the study, actions should be taken at three levels:•upstream level: the gaps in the law should be filled and means should be allocated for its application, put the rights of children and women at the center of policies and budgets, •midstream level: access to basic services should be improved and the services reinforced•downstream level: information and expression should be enhanced, women economical initiatives and participation promoted, and social protection mechanism put into place